Impact of Prehospital Thrombolysis for Acute Myocardial Infarction on 1-Year Outcome

BACKGROUND: Limited data are available on the impact of prehospital thrombolysis (PHT) in the "real-world" setting. METHODS AND RESULTS: Of 443 intensive care units in France, 369 (83%) prospectively collected all cases of infarction (< or =48 hours of symptom onset) in November 2000; 1922 patients (median age, 67 years; 73% men) with ST-segment-elevation infarction were included, of whom 180 (9%) received intravenous thrombolysis before hospital admission (PHT). Patients with PHT were younger than those with in-hospital thrombolysis, primary percutaneous interventions, or no reperfusion therapy. Median time from symptom onset to hospital admission was 3.6 hours for PHT, 3.5 hours for in-hospital lysis, 3.2 hours for primary percutaneous interventions, and 12 hours for no reperfusion therapy. In-hospital death was 3.3% for PHT, 8.0% for in-hospital lysis, 6.7% for primary percutaneous interventions, and 12.2% for no reperfusion therapy. One-year survival was 94%, 89%, 89%, and 79%, respectively. In a multivariate analysis of predictors of 1-year survival, PHT was associated with a 0.49 relative risk of death (95% CI, 0.24 to 1.00; P=0.05). When the analysis was limited to patients receiving reperfusion therapy, the relative risk of death for PHT was 0.52 (95% CI, 0.25 to 1.08; P=0.08). In patients with PHT admitted in < or =3.5 hours, in-hospital mortality was 0% and 1-year survival was 99%. CONCLUSIONS: The 1-year outcome of patients treated with PHT compares favorably with that of patients treated with other modes of reperfusion therapy; this favorable trend persists after multivariate adjustment. Patients with PHT admitted very early have a very high 1-year survival rate.